Hey guys, thanks for the lovely reviews and sticking with me through this part of my epic story. I am awed by the amount of reviews, messages, and shout outs! This is the last chapter for Another Sleeping Curse Part I; that being said, chapter 1 of the sequel is up. It is titled, "Torpid Wakening". Speaking of titles, can I just say I was so excited when in episode 5 of this season, when Snow and Charming kissed, Regina said, "What I wouldn't give for another sleeping curse!"...haha love the unintentional advertisement for a Swan Queen fic.

Anyway, I love you guys and hope you enjoy chapter 20 and then catch chapter 1 of the sequel :)

A week had passed since Regina had brought Emma back home. But in that time, they hadn't really seen each other. Emma spent most of her time catching up with her parents and friends. Regina made herself busy at work, researching a new spell that would replace the one Pan had familiarized himself with. By the time they were ready for sleep, either Regina was "staying late at the office" or Emma had "fallen asleep on Snow and David's couch". Needless to say, their avoidance of each other was an unspoken, but mutually beneficial agreement.

But tonight was a night for celebration, Emma reminded herself as she made her way back outside to join the happy crowd. A new drink in hand, she passed through family members and friends as she walked in her own backyard, looking up at the lanterns they'd hung from the apple tree.

"Up, up!" Ellie cried, as she tugged on Emma's leg. The older blonde chuckled as the girl pouted, demanding her attention.

"Red," she called to Ruby, who was watching in amusement, "will you take my drink."

"Sure thing, Mama Swan," Ruby said as she winked.

Emma bent down and scooped up her little one, thrusting her high above her head. Ellie giggled and reached for the colorful lanterns hanging off of the apple tree.

From a distance, Regina watched the scene unfold. She fought against the smile that wanted so desperately to emerge at the vision of her little girl laughing with her wife. But she shook her head. None of this felt right.

Just then, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She flinched and turned, only to see Charming. "Hey," he said softly, to calm her from her alerted state.

"David," she smiled in acknowledgement. They both sighed and continued to watch Emma and Ellie.

"You shouldn't feel guilty…," he finally let out. Regina looked up to him and raised her eyebrow, just as he continued. "…for however it is you're feeling."

She let a moment pass, only looking at how happy her guests where. "How can I allow myself to want to deny her re entrance into our lives when I see her, over there…," she pointed, "making my family so happy?"

David could only shrug. His best thought was to hand Regina the glass of wine he had just poured. She took it and continued.

"On the other hand," she said, taking a sip, "how can I let her back in? Am I simply to forget all that she's done?"

David nodded, as he listened. "No one expects you to." Regina looked at him as he said the words. "True love…isn't easy, Regina," he said. He hesitated before saying the next bit. "But it must be fought for…because once it is found, it can never be replaced," he said, shrugging a bit. "At least that's what I believe."

Regina held her hand to her head, her thoughts made heavy by Charming's words. He looked to her with hope. "All you need to do is figure out if what you two have really is true love."

"What do you think?" she asked. "Do you think…we do?"

He smiled. "Only you can answer that."

On the other side of the lawn, Emma now sat with her daughter on her lap next to Ruby. Ellie sat, mesmerized by the red streak in the wolf's hair, occasionally trying to grab it, but failed each time as Emma held her back.

"You are a grabby little imp, aren't you?" she said to the little one.

"Hah," Ruby laughed, "you should have seen her a few months ago. Regina took her to Granny's for breakfast. I don't think either of them spent more than a minute sitting down, as Ellie was running all over, trying to grab items off of my tray."

Emma laughed loudly at the story.

"Regina didn't come back in for the rest of the month," she sighed, "She was so embarrassed."

There was a momentary pause as Emma looked over across the lawn. She met eyes with her wife. They both just stared at each other. There were no expressions either could muster that would adequately display the complexity of their emotions.

"It's weird, you know," Emma said softly.

"What is?"

"Hearing these stories," she sighed, "about my own daughter."

Ruby paused, trying to think of the right thing to say to her friend. But nothing good came. "I'm surprised you're not getting these details from your wife."

Emma raised an eyebrow at her friend, half wondering if she was being sarcastic. She looked back over at Regina, who had averted her stare, pretending she did not notice the blonde.

"I think I'll have to do with hearing them from you, Rubes."

Somewhere in the middle of the lawn, between the wives, Snow came back outside with a piece of cake for her and Charming to split. She overheard the chatter coming from the group as she sat down next to her grandson.

"Eugenia," Gold said, throwing down some money, "I'll raise you a twenty and put me down to say magic within a week, couch for six months, and two weeks before we see a very visibly different Swan."

Granny look his money and scribbled down check marks on a spreadsheet as she let out a hearty laugh. "You're on 'Stiltskin!"

Leroy chugged the last of his beer before interjecting. "No way the queen will last a week!" he cried. "Granny, I give it 'til an hour after the party."

Granny took the dwarf's money and penned his wager in on the spreadsheet.

"What are you guys doing?" Snow asked with a heightened curiosity.

"Placing bets on how and when Regina will roast a certain Swan," Leroy said, not thinking too much on his word choice in his drunken state.

Snow gasped, her jaw dropping a comical amount as Granny explained the spreadsheet. "Taking bets on how long it will take Regina to crack out her magic, how long Emma will sleep on the couch, and how long until Emma is altered by some sort of spell out of anger."

"You people are awful!" Snow shouted, just as Henry dug out his wallet. He pulled out a twenty and threw it on the table.

"Twenty bucks says my ma will magically alter herself by accident when trying to fix whatever my mom does to her," he said.

The crowd oohed and ahed. "Good one, little prince," Granny said.

"Henry!" Snow cried. "These are your mothers that you're talking about!"

He sighed. "You're right," he said, and reached back into his wallet. "Make it forty."

"I don't believe you people," Snow cried in horror. "These are my daughters! They're both hurting. A lot! And you people are betting on how bad their fighting will be?!"

But Henry defended himself.

"Yeah, Grandma, sure, it's pretty bad," he let out, "but it's a bad situation." He looked around the table. "I dunno about these guys, but for me, well, this is how I'm dealing with it—making light of it."

Snow got up, feeling disgusted by the group, and went inside to a small corner of the kitchen. She wasn't quite sure why, but she felt a tear forming in the corner of her eye. She sniffled to herself, surprised when she saw a hand reaching out to her with a tissue.

She looked up to take it from Regina.

"What are you doing in here?" Snow muffled as she dried her tears.

"Oh, you know, dear," Regina answered as she refilled her wine glass, "looking busy preparing appetizers. I'm not in the mood to celebrate." She handed a fresh tissue to Snow so she could blow her nose. "My question is, why are you in here crying?"

Snow blew her nose clear and sniffled some more. "I couldn't deal with the conversation outside."

"What do you mean, dear?"

"Oh," Snow said slowly, looking away, realizing Regina would be upset by the matter, "it's nothing, really."

"Snow," she insisted, "tell me."

Snow bit her lip, not wanting to hurt Regina. But she knew that glare all too well. "It's just," she began, "some of the guests are placing bets…"

"Bets?" Regina raised her eyebrow. "On what?"

Snow took a deep breath. "On how…you and Emma…on how you guys will end up fighting through this mess," she said softly.

There was a long pause. Regina slowly traced the rim of her glass as she took in the information. Snow continued to cry. Finally, Regina spoke.

"Somehow, it doesn't surprise me," she said, and then sipped her wine.

Snow was surprised at how collected she was about the ordeal. Regina saw this, and kept talking. "Dear, most people in this town still think I'm the devil incarnate; of course they'll delight in anything that destroys my chance for happiness."

"I just," Snow wiped her tears, "I just don't want anything to break this family."

Regina looked to her mother-in-law, who was a mess at the thought of her marriage being damaged. She put her hand on Snow's shoulder. "Snow, no matter what, we," she emphasized, meaning the two of them, "are family. You and David were there for me when she wasn't. You two helped me raise Henry and Ellie…"

Regina saw a small glimmer of hope beam in the eyes of Snow. "…No matter what happens between Emma and I, that fact will not change. Do you hear me?"

Snow gulped through a laugh of joy that momentarily broke her tears. She nodded and wrapped her arms around her daughter-in-law.

At some point in the night, Emma had noticed Regina was nowhere to be found. She made her way through the mingling guests, dodging the drinks and plates of food, and managed to find her way upstairs. As she ran her hand along the banister, she remembered what it felt like to be here. The overwhelming feeling of being in their house took hold of her as she reached the closed door of their bedroom. She went to grab the door handle, but stopped herself short, thinking better of it. Instead, Emma brought her fist up to the wooden door and knocked.

"Yes," came the soft voice from the other side.

Emma made her way in, to see Regina standing near their window, looking out over the party. She turned her head to see that it was her wife who had knocked, and then turned back to the window.

Emma put her hand to the back of her head, rubbing her hair the way she did when she was nervous. "The food tonight was great," she finally said, not having much else to say. "Everyone loved the lasagna."

"It's always a hit," Regina answered softly, without looking away from the window.

Emma stood silently for a moment, unsure what to say next. "I really missed your cooking," she said.

Regina turned and glared at her, and then once more returned her eyes to the outside.

"Right—," Emma gulped, "my fault."

She carefully moved closer into the room, and walked toward their bed. She looked over to what was her side. She eyed the mountain of pillows and saw a darker piece of material. She looked closer—it was her leather jacket. A warm smile grew on her face. She leaned on Regina's side, smelling the scent of apples and vanilla.

"I know we," Emma began, "haven't talked about things…". She saw Regina's eyes flutter, even though she remained fixated on the yard.

"And I know there's a lot to talk about…". She hoped Regina would turn to face her, but she didn't. "I know you're not ready to talk…Just so you know," she said, reaching out a hand, "that's why I haven't been around at night this week—I've been trying to respect that you need some time."

Emma decided that her best shot was to move closer to her wife, and so, she did. "But at the same time, I need you to know how hard that's been for me," she whispered, a mere foot between her and her wife. Then she saw. As Regina's face was illuminated by the pale moonlight, Emma saw a single tear roll down her cheek.

Silence consumed the distance between them. Emma longed to touch her wife—to beg for forgiveness. But the invisible barrier was impossible to break.

"Do you even realize…?" Regina finally whispered. "Do you even know what you've done to me?"

Emma was aware, possibly more than Regina was. But she said nothing, allowing her wife to speak. She turned around to face Emma. Her face was full of anger and pain, sorrow and devastation.

"You," she said, reaching he hand slowly to Emma's cheek, "You saved me. I was so broken. And you saved me. You loved me. You gave me hope, a home," she smiled, "you let me give you a baby," she cried a bit with the love she had for the daughter that looked just like Emma. She put her hand to her stomach, trying to feel the warmth she had once felt when she was pregnant with their child.

Emma was crying now too—though her tears were not silent. She tried to hold them back. But as strong as she wanted to be, she couldn't help but feel every inch of their distance, every bit of shame she deserved.

"You tell me I'll never have to be alone again," Regina cried. "And then, you do the one thing I tell you that I can't face." She put her hand to her forehead. "You leave. You think you're some savior, trying to fight for your family?..." she cried, with anger in her voice. "Emma, you're a fucking coward. You broke me more than anyone—more than my mother, more than Snow, more than Daniel—you destroyed me."

Emma closed the distance between them, putting her head to Regina's back. "Let me try to fix this," she whispered. She slowly moved her hands to meet Regina's that still rested on her stomach. Emma leaned in to the crook of Regina's neck and tried to kiss her. But Regina flinched away, still allowing Emma to hold her.

"No," Regina said, denying her the right. "No," she repeated, as Emma tried again. But when Emma persisted, against her wife's will, Regina twirled herself around and brought her hand up in a flash, slapping her across the face.

Emma froze, feeling the heat from Regina's slap, instantly realized what she'd done. "I…I'm sorry," she muttered out. "Fuck, I'm sorry." Disgusted with herself, she fled the room, running though Regina called her back.

After running downstairs to follow her wife, Regina found that Emma was not among the guests. A few had remained, but the party itself was winding down to a close. She passed Ruby, who carried a sleeping Ellie in her arms.

"Red, have you seen Emma?" she asked.

"No, can't say I have," Ruby answered, "I was just about to tuck this one into bed."

Regina nodded and then continued her search. But it was to no avail. Emma had fled the property. Stricken with a worry she wanted to deny, Regina paced the mansion. David and Snow were the last to linger. They wanted to be sure they helped Regina search for Emma before leaving.

"I'm sure she just went out for air," David said, as he kissed his daughter-in-law goodnight.

Regina sighed, hoping he was correct.

"You'll let me know if she calls you?" she asked Snow.

"The moment we hear," she answered with a hug. "Try to get some sleep."

Regina nodded. But sleep wouldn't come. She sat on the porch, waiting for Emma to return. It wasn't long before she saw her shadow walk slowly up the path. When she saw Emma's face, she saw it was still red with her hand print.

"You waited up for me?" Emma asked, surprised.

Regina simply put out her hand. "I'm sorry I h…"

"I know. Me too," Emma said, before she could finish her sentence. Emma looked down to Regina's hand, which was still held out to her. With hesitation, she took it in her own. The brunette laced their fingers together and led the way upstairs.

As they reached the top of the staircase, Regina felt Emma break free from her hold, prepared to go to the guest bedroom. But she pulled her back.

"No," she whispered, only making Emma tilt her head in confusion. "I want you to stay in our room tonight."

Before Emma got carried away with the idea, Regina clarified. "I just want you to hold me."

Emma smiled and nodded. They made their way into the moonlit bedroom. The pillows on her side were gone—her own body taking their place. They lay down together in their clothes and held each other tightly. Neither believed they would get sleep tonight. Though they both hoped. As Regina sobbed into the morning hours, she thought what she wouldn't give to dream once more of the fiery room with the red curtains. It was being awake that had now become another sleeping curse.